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AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Supreme Court Decision to Hear the DAPA and Expanded DACA Case

Supreme Court Should Approve Policies that Will Provide Much-needed Relief to Immigrant Working Families

We applaud the Supreme Court's decision to take up this case, which will have profound consequences for our immigrant brothers and sisters who live and work every day under a cloud of fear, as well as for racial and economic justice in our country. We are confident that the Court will reverse the Fifth Circuit and allow the DAPA and expanded DACA policies to go into effect, affording millions of people the opportunity to apply for work authorization and temporary protection from deportation. We encourage the Department of Homeland Security to take all steps necessary to ensure these much-needed policies can be implemented as soon as possible after the Court issues its decision this summer.

At the heart, of the question the Supreme Court will consider is whether our immigration enforcement regime will take modest steps to protect and empower hard-working people, or whether it will continue to serve as a tool to exclude and oppress.

Much is at stake in this case, but working people do not need the ruling of a court to interpret what is just. In the face of criminalization, exploitation, and base attempts to sow division, we will continue to work in every community in the country to build what we believe is the only true antidote: solidarity.

Office and Professional Employees International Union was chartered in 1945 and with more than 104,000 members (representing 110,000 employees) strong, we’re one of the larger unions of the AFL-CIO. OPEIU has locals in every state, Puerto Rico and Canada.